Yehuda Eliyahu is a longstanding activist in the settlement movement and is considered Bezalel Smotrich’s close political ally. In 1999, he co-founded the outpost Harasha, where he currently resides and served as its secretary for seven years. In 2006, he co-founded Regavim with Smotrich and served as its first executive director. Regavim promotes Israeli takeover of West Bank land and increasing enforcement against Palestinian construction, using legal petitions and pressuring state authorities. Eliyahu went on to serve as deputy to head of the Matte Binyamin Regional Council, an Israeli local council that incorporates dozens of settlements and outposts in the West Bank, and in 2019-2022 he served as its executive director.

In February 2023, after Smotrich was appointed Additional Minister in the Ministry of Defense, Eliyahu was appointed head of the Settlement Administration, which established within the Ministry. In practice, this appointment placed a seasoned advocate of settlement at the head of the civilian mechanism established expressly to carry out Smotrich’s policy in the West Bank. As head of the Settlement Administration, Eliyahu was responsible for promoting policies concerning land, planning and construction, infrastructure, retroactive authorization of outposts and enforcement. During his tenure, powers from the Civil Administration were transferred to the mechanism subordinate to Smotrich, settlement planning proceedings were stepped up, outposts retroactively authorized, declarations of state land expanded and enforcement against Palestinian construction increased. In July 2025, Eliyahu announced that the Settlement Administration had completed the necessary professional preparations for annexing the West Bank to Israel.

Eliyahu has benefited in past from questionable methods used to establish and expand outposts. According to Haaretz, Eliyahu received a mortgage in 2004 for a lot within the settlement Neria’s zoning plan, but in practice his home was built in Harasha, which was at the time an unlawful outpost without a zoning plan on land whose status was never settled. According to Haaretz’ investigation, the mortgage was approved based on documents provided by the Settlement Division, although it did not have rights to the land on which Eliyahu’s house was built.

In May 2026, Eliyahu was appointed Director of the Israel Land Authority. Following a petition against his appointment, which included claims of flaws and a conflict of interest due also to his proximity to Smotrich, the government agreed to a compromise proposed by the court. It revoked the appointment and returned the matter to the candidate search committee staffed with new members. In July 2026, Eliyahu was appointed deputy to the director but in September was summoned for a hearing prior to dismissal after complaints were filed against his management and professional conduct. His dismissal was overturned after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu intervened in the matter and he remains in office.

Eliyahu’s political track record, from establishing an unlawful outpost, through his work at Regavim, and culminating in heading a government administration and the Israel Land Authority reflects the Israeli settlement movement’s political clout and access to Israel’s official decision making. As Smotrich’s longstanding ally and through his responsibility for implementing Smotrich’s policy, Eliyahu’s role is central to transforming the plan to annex the West Bank from an ideology to a government mechanism and a policy that is being implemented.